Contents

Early career

Eve was a young child when her acting career began in TV commercials in 1966. The following year, she appeared on The Virginian, The Big Valley and Lassie. In 1968, she appeared on It Takes a Thief and Family Affair; in the latter, she played a terminally ill girl on the episode “Christmas Came a Little Early”. In 1969, she appeared on an episode of Gunsmoke.

The Brady Bunch

From 1969 to 1974, Eve appeared as middle sister Jan Brady in the ABC-TV sitcom The Brady Bunch. Her featured storylines included Jan’s embarrassment over not having a boyfriend, concerns about her future appearance, being a middle child, and her insecurity over wearing glasses. Several episodes centered on Jan’s jealousy of older sister Marcia, resulting in the famous “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia!” line that has arguably become the quintessential quote of the series. Plumb also supplied the voice of Jan in the ABC Saturday morning cartoon The Brady Kids from 1972 – 1973. After The Brady Bunch was cancelled in 1974, it went on to even greater success in syndicated reruns. The show has never left the television airwaves and eventually spawned numerous spinoffs, reunions and feature films.

Several episodes of the show featured the Brady kids singing and as a result, Plumb and the rest of the younger cast recorded several albums: Merry Christmas from the Brady Bunch, Meet the Brady Bunch, The Kids from the Brady Bunch, and The Brady Bunch Phonographic Album. There were also a few solo singles. The children went on a national concert tour as “The Brady Bunch Kids” and appeared on American Bandstand. Plumb would also provide a monologue for the Patrick Williams Orchestra’s 1974 recording of “California Love Story”. The single was co-produced by Plumb’s recording executive father, Neely Plumb. In 1993, a greatest hits collection was released entitled It’s a Sunshine Day ... The Best of The Brady Bunch.

Plumb and her TV siblings became very popular in teen fan magazines of the day, including 16 and Tiger Beat. They were also featured in various other media, including paperback books, comic books, coloring books, posters, lunch boxes, board games and even paper dolls.

Later career

After The Brady Bunch ended, Eve's first notable role was that of a teenage prostitute in the 1976 NBC television movie Dawn: Portrait of a Teenage Runaway. She also appeared in the sequel Alexander: The Other Side of Dawn. Plumb starred as "Beth" in NBC productions of Little Women, both a TV movie and a short-lived series. Plumb also made numerous guest-starring appearances in such shows as Here’s Lucy, The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Wonder Woman, One Day at a Time,The Facts of Life, Murder, She Wrote, The Super Mario Brothers Super Show, Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman and All My Children.

Plumb was the only original cast member who declined to reunite for the 1976–77 variety show The Brady Bunch Hour on ABC. Much was made of her absence, including accusations that she no longer wanted to be associated with the Bradys. Plumb has stated in interviews that she was willing to do the variety show’s original special episode, but could not commit to a five-year option for additional shows. Her role would be filled by Geri Reischl, who went on to be known among Brady Bunch fans as “fake Jan”.

Plumb returned to the “Jan” role for the 1981 NBC TV movie The Brady Girls Get Married, which led to The Brady Brides, a short-lived sitcom in which she co-starred with Maureen McCormick, who played Marcia Brady. She also appeared in the 1988 CBS television movie A Very Brady Christmas and its 1990 CBS spinoff dramedy series, The Bradys. To promote their latest incarnation, the cast appeared on an episode of Sally Jessy Raphael, which is remembered for having been shot outdoors in Florida during a rainstorm.

Plumb was interviewed as part of a 1995 retrospective special titled Brady Bunch Home Movies, produced by Susan Olsen, who played Cindy Brady. That same year, Plumb appeared on a special “child stars” installment of The Jenny Jones Show. From 1995 - 1997, Eve was a member of the cast of the Saturday morning sitcom Fudge, playing the title character’s mother, Mrs. Ann Hatcher. The show aired on ABC in its first season and moved to CBS for its second season. To promote the series, Eve appeared on The Jon Stewart Show. Plumb also appeared in the movie Fudge-A-Mania (1997). In 1996, she reminisced about her Brady years on The Rosie O'Donnell Show and on the E True Hollywood Story: The Brady Bunch. In 1998, Plumb was the original Pam Burkhart on That '70s Show (only seen in episode 6, “The Keg”).

In 2007, Plumb was the only surviving cast member who was not on hand when TV Land honored The Brady Bunch with its Pop Culture Award. In 2008, she appeared on a special Brady-themed week of the syndicated game show Trivial Pursuit: America Plays, hosted by Christopher Knight, who played Peter Brady. Also in 2008, Eve was a guest on The Florence Henderson Show on RLTV, hosted by her former TV mom.

Plumb appeared in a number of made-for-television movies, including The House on Greenapple Road in 1970, The Force of Evil and Telethon in 1977, Secrets of Three Hungry Wives in 1978, The Night the Bridge Fell Down in 1983 and Yesterday Today in 1992. Her film credits include I’m Gonna Git You Sucka in 1988, ... And God Spoke in 1993, Nowhere and Breast Men in 1997 and Manfast in 2003.

In August 2008, Plumb appeared on an episode of the NBC daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives. From October 2010 to May 2011, Plumb starred as the title character in the New York production of Miss Abigail’s Guide to Dating, Mating and Marriage, inspired by a book and website of the same name. The role was her first New York stage role. She made several TV appearances to promote the show, including Access Hollywood, The Joy Behar Show and Geraldo At Large.

From 7 to 17 September 2011, Plumb co-starred in Same Time Next Year with Broadway's John Bolton at the Surflight Theater in Beach Haven, NJ. From 4 November to 4 December 2011, Eve was part of the cast of Love, Loss and What I Wore at the Westside Theater in New York City. In 2012, she was also appearing in the web series The Sisters Plotz.

Plumb has been painting for more than two decades and has enjoyed good success at select galleries across the US. Using oil on canvas, her focus is on "spontaneous still life."

Post-Brady reflections

In an article published by the Chicago Tribune in 1990, Plumb was profiled while making a cameo appearance in the stage spoof “The Real Live Brady Bunch”. It was reported that after a performance, fans asked Plumb, “What was your favorite Brady episode?” She replied, somewhat jokingly, “The last one.” Seeing their disappointment, Plumb modified her answer by saying, “The Grand Canyon episode was kind of cool.” She has since stated that she and her Brady costars have an unspoken agreement to always be courteous and polite to fans of The Brady Bunch.

Personal life

Plumb was born in Burbank, Californis. Her father was Neely Plumb, a saxophonist who later worked as a recording executive and staff producer on music soundtracks for major film companies. Her mother, Flora June Plumb (née Dobry), was a ballerina. Plumb has two siblings, Flora Plumb, an actress, and a brother, Ben.

Plumb was the first of the 'Brady' kids to marry and the first to divorce. Her first husband was Rick Mansfield, whom she wed in 1979 and divorced two years later. Since 1995, she has been married to her second husband, business consultant Kenneth Pace. The couple resides in New York City, after having lived for many years in Laguna Beach, California, where Plumb worked as an artist, served as chair pro-tem of the city’s Board of Adjustments/Design Review Board, and was part of the makeup crew during the annual “Pageant of the Masters”.